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     The remainder of this note deals with suits for money damages only, against governments and against individual capacity government defendants.

     A. State court; state government defendant.

     Suits against state governments in state courts are typically subject to common law sovereign immunity, unless abolished by the state courts or waived by the state legislature. Such suits require careful examination of state laws waiving the immunity of the state, which of course vary from state to state.

     B. State court; individual capacity defendant

     Suits against individual capacity state government defendants in state court based on state law are subject to the state law of official immunity. The law of particular states in this regard is beyond the scope of this brief note. (For violations of federal law, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 may be invoked in state court. See Howlett v. Rose, 496 U.S. 356 (1990) and E below.

     C. Federal court; state government defendant

     Suits for damages against a state in federal court are barred by the sovereign immunity preserved by the Eleventh Amendment (actually an Eleventh Amendment gloss on Article III). Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1 (1890); Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651 (1974). The only recognized exception is where Congress has explicitly provided for money judgments against states and in doing so Congress has relied on its power to enforce the 14th Amendment. Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 427 U.S. 445 (1976); Seminole Tribe v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996).

     D. Federal court; individual capacity state officer defendant; state tort law

     If a state officer is sued in his or her individual capacity in federal court for a state common law tort, jurisdiction would have to be based on diversity (28 U.S.C. § 1332) and the state law of official immunity referred to in B would apply under Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938).

     E. Federal court; individual capacity state officer defendant; federal law violation

     If the individual capacity state officer is sued for violation of federal constitutional or statutory law, a federal cause of action is provided by 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167 (1961); Maine v. Thiboutot, 448 U.S. 1 (1980). Subject matter jurisdiction is provided by 28 U.S.C. § 1331 or §1343.